de escobales



- H. DE ESCOBALES.

BLANK FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED sgPT. 13.71917.

Patentd May 10,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

H. DE ESCOBALES. BLANK FEEDING MECHANISM.

Patented May 10,1921

2 SHEETS-*SHEET 2.

T. H on P E .S D. E L H 0 H C H DI DI A {UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HILARION DE ESCOBALES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BLANK-FEEDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 10, 1921.

-Application filed September 13, 1917. Serial No. 191,259.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HILAPION DniEsooBALns, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New York,in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented new and useful Improvements in Blank FeedingMechanisms, of which the following is a specification. I ThlS inventlonrelates to nnprovements 1n duction of packages, the stamp or label beingprovided with an adhesive coating or having a coating of this typemoisteneddependent upon the form of the stamp or label-during travel ofthe fed stamp or -'label to the point wherethe stamp or label is to beapplied. V

The present application pertains more particularly to the feedingmechanism, and the general principles of thismechanism are applicablefor use where other forms of articles are to be fed. For instance, themechanism is, with a small addition, adapted to feed blanks of heavierstock and which have more or less irregular orjslitted contours. i

This applicability is disclosed in my companion application filed June8, 1917, Ser. No. 173,558, wherein both stamps and container blanks areemployed in the production of packages, the stamp feeding mechanismbeing that disclosed in thecompanion application Ser. No. 15 1,4 17,while the blank feeding mechanism is of the type disclosed in thepresent application, thedifl'erences in the two forms of feedingmechanism employed being due to the difference in the characteristics ofthe sheets being fed and the desirability of providing the tacky coatingof the s mp in connection with t e t p feeding means, an action which isomitted with respect to the container blanks.

Among the objects of the present invention are to more particularlyprovide a simple and efiicient feeding mechanism for sheets, etc., orblanks and which is made operatlve on the lower sheet or blank of asupply pile; by means of which the sheets or blanks are readilysegregated from the pile and advanced with a minimum liability ofimproper feeding action; by feeding from the bottom of the pile, thesupply can be replenished at will without necessitating any stoppage ofthe feeding mechanism.

Another object is to provide a feed mechanism of this type capable ofoperation in connection with blanks of more or less irregular or slittedcontour-as for instance container blankswherein the advance of theselected blank might cause engagement of blank portions of thesuperposed blank while the selected blank is being advanced; Thisparticular problem is solved by a double feeding actionin which'theselected blank is first moved laterally of the pile and then advanced,thus carrying the selected blank out of vertical alinement with thesupply and shiftingthe irregular portions so as to practically preventinterference between the'blanks.

Other objects are to provide a feed mechanism in which the advancingelement has a lengthy contact with the sheet or blank to be advancedwith the width of contact increased at predetermined portions insuchlength, thereby providing a more efficient advancing action. 7 7

Other objects are to provide simple and efficient mechanisms for thesepurposes, mechanisms havingrelativel-y few operating parts, withmechanical movements of simple form, and mechanisms which can bemanufactured at a comparatively low cost.

To these and other ends, the nature of whichwill be readily understoodas the invention is hereinafter disclosed, said invention consists inthe improved construction and combination of parts hereinafter morefully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

the accompanying drawings, in which Fi 4 is a sectional View taken online IV V' of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a planrview of parts shown in Fig. 5with parts broken away.

Fig. 7 is a sectional View taken on line VIIVII of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammaticview showing a blank adapted to'be fed by themechanism of Figs. 5 to 7.

For the purpose of illustrating the in vention, in Figs. 1 to 4, I haveshown mechamsm'for 'feedmg labels or stamps, as for lnstance, revenuestamps, eta, these being generally of elongated comparatively narrowform and more or less cliificult to feed, owing not only to the lengthyand configuration of the stampor label but also to the fact that stampsor labels are generally of comparatively light weight of stock. On theother hand, in Figs. 5 to 7, I have shown the invention as employed inthe feeding of blanks of heavier stock and which have a configurationsomewhat difficult to handle by reason of. the presence of slitsextending inward from the periphery of the blank,

' asforinstance shown in Fig. 8, or of cuti various parts are mounted.

table to recelve the sheets, labels or sta1nps Q blanks in the form of apile.

away portions, such for instance as disclosed in the companionapplication, Ser. No.

173,558, above referred to, or my companion application filed May 16,1917, Ser. No. 169,044, either structure of blankpresentingpossibilities ofinterengagament of parts of one blank with another whenthe blanks are advanced from the bottom of a pile.

' Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, 16 indicates a frame memberin which the designated generally as blanks-the table carry ng suitablegu1des18 for retaining the Suitable means may be provided for limitingthe :blank delivery; In the drawings this is '55 form of segregatingstructure.

iother well-known structures may be emindicated by aslot 18 at thebottom of the advance guides 18 this being a well-known Obviously,

ployed for the purpose.

.19 designates a slide positioned below the table and secured to theframe member 16.

I'Mountedon slide 19 is a carriage 20 opera- 1 tively connected to acrank wheel 21 by a pitman 22, rotation of wheel 21 reciprocatmg thecarriage back and forth on the 17 indicates a described.

slide. Crank wheel 21 is mounted on shaft 23 driven in any suitablemanner.

Mounted on carriage 20 is a frame 24 having bearings 25 in which aremounted a pair of studs 26, one of said studs carrying a roll 27 havingaperipheral groove 27*, and having one or more ratchet wheels 28. Ipreferably employ a pair of ratchet wheels 28, one at each side of theroll, the wheels and roll being operatively connected to move in unisonin suitable manner, as by pins 28 carried by the wheels and projectinginto openings carried by the roll, 29 inclicates a stud carried by frame24, said stud carrying pawls 30 adapted to cooperate with ratchet Wheels28. Obviously, one of the pawl and ratchet structures may be omitted, ifdesired.

The. rear stud 26 carries a roll 31.also having a peripheral groove 31*.

Rolls 27 and 31 extend into a slot 17 of table 17 said rolls havin'their rooves in v alinement and adapted to receive an endless v band32, preferably in the form of aclosely woundcoil spring. The grooves ofrolls 27 and 31. are each of a depthto receive the band 82, the latterlying substantially flush with the face of the rolls.

As will beunderstoochthe rolls and band are located beneath the pile ofblanks which 'may be within the guides 18, contacting with the underface of. the lowermost blank and tending to form a support for theblanks.

' When crank wheel 21 is rotated, carriage 20 will be reciprocatedon'slide 19, carrying the rolls and band (constituting what may be termed acarrier) with it during the advance to carry the blank forward throughslot 18 the remaining blanks being retained within the guides..During-movementof the car- 7 ria e in the reverse direction frictionbetween the rolls and the blanks will rotate the rolls and band in acounterclockwise Cll-' rection, a direction in which the ratchet wheelsare not aflfectedby the pawls,.so that the rolls, and bands will move tostarting position without affecting the arrangement of the blanks.

. To produce properiaction I. preferably provide a yielding engagementbetween the blanks and the rolls and band of the sheet segregating andadvancing mechanism thus on the carriage with a' vertical movement ofdeslred range, pms 33 extending from, frame One way in which this result'may be obtained is by mounting frame 24 24 through the carriage andhaving adjusting nuts 34 below the latter, springs 35 being mounted inpockets within the carriage andtending to move frame 24 upward. Byproperly adjusting nuts 34 the limit of up- 'ward travel of the rollsmay be controlled between which the blank is fed by the blankadvancingmechanism, these rolls being operatively driven in any desired manner,these rolls, in application Ser. No. 154,447, being arranged to form theentrance to a conveying mechanism for delivering thefed blank to thepackaging apparatus and for producing the tacky surface to the blankwhile being carried However, for the purposes of the presentapplication, these rolls may be considered simply as feeding rolls forcontinuing the advance of the selected blank after the advancingmechanism has presented the advance end of the blank to the rolls, thelatter operating practically continuously and withdrawing the selectedstamp while the carriage of the advancing mechanism is returning to itsstarting position.

This arrangement of blank-advancing mechanism is of advantage in thatthe contact between the blank and the mechanism is substantially fixedthroughout the length of advance movement. Since the contact zone is ofconsiderable length there is provided an efiicient advancing structureof simple design and operative in connection with comparatively longstrip-like sheets or blanks without liability of damaging the strips orshifting the strips laterally, thus avoiding an incorrect feed. Inaddition, the increase in width at the extreme ends of the contactzoneprovided by the use of rollsaids in producing this result and at thesame time eliminatesthe necessity for producing a band structureofconsiderable width, or the use of intermediate rolls.

The closely wound coil spring band structure is of advantage in that itpresents a relatively narrow surface contact with the blank as comparedwith the wide beltstructure, thus providing the proper feeding actionwith a minimum surface contact, and

is advantageous over the small round belt structures in that the'bandspractically insure a maintenance of the proper tension in theblankfeeding portions of the band runs,

a result which such belt structures are unable to provide in serviceowing to the tendency of the leather stretching or deteriorating, aneffect which necessarily results in affecting the feed of the blank.

As will be understood the angular speed of rolls 36 is generally notless than the maximum advance speed of the carriage, the generalconstruction of the advancing instrumentality being such that the speedof the sheet, after it has been gripped by rolls 36, may be materiallygreater than the travel speed of the carriage without affecting themovement of the latter, the pawl and ratchet mechanism permitting thesheet friction to move band 32 and its supporting rolls in accordancewith the excess speed of the sheet over the speed of the carriage. Thispossibility enables the carriage reciprocation to be had by a simplecrank and pitman operation such as shown, the speed changes in thetravel of the carriage not affecting feed of the sheet after it isgripped by the rolls. In addition, it permits location'of rolls 36 inproximity to the blank pile, where thelength of feed movement of theblank preliminary to enterin the rolls need be comparatively small. Kfurther important advantage lies in the fact that the advance of theblank may start at slow speed which" gradually increases-the normalaction of the crank and pitman arrangement-and be delivered to the rollsat the point of maximum speed of the carriage, after which the carriagemay decrease its speed while moving in the direction of sheet movement;if the roll speed is greater than the maximum carriage speed, theefiecton the sheet of the change of speed at this time is simply to continuethe sheet speed increase with a, minimum change in speed, thuspreventing any tendency to damage the sheet or blank while the latter ispassing from its non-moving to its maximum speed feed condition.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 5 to' 7, the general arrangement ofadvancing mechanism is maintained, one difference being in the use of aplurality of the contactproducing structures of Figs. 1 to '4, thesestructures being spaced apart laterally and being employed in this formby reason of .the material increase in width of the blank being fed.

In this form, carriage 20 is of increased width, and is mounted on apair of slides 19*, I the carriage being arranged to support bearingswhich provide for a pair of rolls 27 at the advance end and a pair ofrolls 31 at the rear end, together with a pair of the bands 32 mountedon the rolls as in the single band structure. The pawl and ratchet wheelstructure is employed with each roll 27, as shown in Fig. 6.

In these figures I have shown crank wheel Zl as carried by the shaft ofone of the rolls raw 1.

'the bottom of the pile beforeactual advance of the selected blank ishad. This will be appreciated if it be considered that a pile of blanksof this type would have the flaps practically in vertical alinement,these flaps beingspaced from the body of the blank by slits ca. If,therefore, advance of the blank be had while the flaps are in alinement,there is possibility that a flap edge would engage with an edge of theblank above it,'resulting in possible mutilation of either or both ofthe blanks. 1

This effect is avoided by shifting the blank which is to be advancedlaterally a distance sufficient to carry the slitted portions out ofalinement with the similar portions of the blank above it. For instance,if the blank of Fig. 8 be shifted in the direction of therarrow, the.distance of transverse movement. would be sufiicient to entirely exposeone of the flaps a while the other'flap a would be shifted to a positionbeneath an unslitted portion of the blank above it, in

which position, the slits of the selected blank would be entirely outofposition to engage the slits of the superposed blank, so that advancingmovement of the selected blank can be had without interference. Themechanism .for producing this result is shown in Figs. 5 to 7 and is nowdescribed:

Carriage 20 carries a lateral extension 20 to which pitman 22 issecured, the reciprocating movements of the carriage being obtained inthis manner. '37 designates a link having one end pivotally mounted, asat 38, on the carriage, the opposite end of the linkbeing pivotallyconectedto the end of an arm 39 of a bellcrank lever 39 pivoted at 40 tothe under face of the table top. The

' other arm 39 of the lever has its free end connected to a link 41which, in turn, is

V pivotally connectedfto a slide 42 mounted .inguides43 carriedby thetable. Slide 42 has an'upwardly projecting portion 42" mov- I able in aslot 44 of the table, portion 42 i .havinga' T-shaped member 45 securedthereto and located to move on top of the table,

member 45, having a thickness not greater thanthe thickness of the blankwhich is to V be shifted, the lengthof member 45 being' such as toprovide for a more or less extend ed-contact with a longitudinal edge ofthe blank to be shifted.

1 :If, therefore, the pile of blanks be positioned for instance as shownin full lines in'Fig; 7 and the position ofthe blank to be advanced isas shown in dotted lines in said figure, shifting of theblank fromithefull the movements of the carriage in returning to position to advancethe blank, this action being provided by the inward movement of member45 which first passes into contact with the blank, indicated at A inFig. 6, the continued movement of member 45 shifting the position of theblank from the full line position to the dotted line position in Fig. 6.In providing this movement, it will be obvious that the movement of thecarriage toward the left in Fig. 6 causes thebell crank lever 39' to berocked counterclockwise (Fig.

6) through the action of link 37,.this movement of lever 39 moving slide42 inward through the operation of link 41 When the direction ofmovement er the carriage changes to the advance, lever 39 1s rocked 1nthe opposite direction-01ockwise-which, through the connections, beginswithdrawal movementof member 45, the resultnbeing that said member. isreturned to itsinitial position ready to. advance and contact with theblank next to be fed as the operation continues. 7

As will be understood, advance of the blank in the transverse directionis had while the carriage is returning from advancing the precedingblank (t which time the band-formed carriers are inactive to shift theposition of the blank. As soon as these carriers become actlve toadvance theblank,

the direction of movement of member 45 shifts so as to take it out ofcontact with the blank edge, leaving the latter free to advance withoutliability of being interfered with bycimemb'er 45..

1 line to the dotted line position will be had by Through theconnections shown, the blank movements, although 1n two directions atright angles to each other, are provided by a single mechan1sm-p1tman22the arrangement being such as to absolutely 1nsure a proper timingrelation between the two movements of the blank.

'Aswill be seen, the structural elements which comprise the feedingmechanism of either form shown is of simple type, efficient inoperation, durable in construction, and

capable of manufacture ata comparatively low cost. At the same time, thegeneral ar-v rangement and structure is compact'in form I so as topermit its ready application to ipackagmg or other types of mechanismsrequiring the feeding of a blankor label in sheet form. 7

' WVhile I have shown'and described several ways in which my inventionmaybe carried into effect, it willbe readily understood that changes ormodifications therein may be required or desiredin meeting theexigencies of the particular usein which the general principles of thefeeding mechanism'may be employed, and I reserve the right to make anyand all such changes as may be found necessary or desirable in so far asthe same may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention asexpressed in the accompanying claims. a

Having'thus described my invention, what I claim as new, is:

1. In mechanism forfeeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, blank segregating and advancing means operative todeliver a blank from a pile, said means including a reciprocatingcarrier movable in a fixed path and having a blank-contacting faceelongated in the direction of blank advance and held against movementindependent of the reciprocating movement during the blank advancingmovements and rendered additionally movable during the movements of thecarrier in the opposite direction of reciprocation.

2. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pileof blanks andin combination, blank segregating and advancing means operative todeliver a blank from a pile, said means including a. reciprocatingcarrier having a blank contacting face elongated in the direction ofblank advance and with the ends of the contact zone increasedinwidtlnsaid carrier being held against movement independent of suchreciprocating movementduring the blank advancing movements and renderedadditionally movable during the movement of the carrier in the oppositedirection of reciprocation. Y

3. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combi-- nation, blank segregating and advancing means operative todeliver a blank from a pile, said means including a reciprocatingcarriage, a pair of rolls mounted thereon with parallel axes, an endlessband connect: ing said rolls, said rolls and band constituting acarrier, said carrier being normally positioned beneath and tending toform a support for the blanks, the upper run of said band and the topfaces of the rolls forming a blank-contacting zone elongated in lengthand increased in width at its ends, and means for retaining said carrieragainst movement j independent of and during the advancing movement ofthe carriage, said means being operative to permit free additionalmovement of the carrier during movements of the carriage in the oppositeclirection. V

4. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, blank segregating and advancing means operativetodeliver a blank from a pile, said means including a reciprocatingcarriage, a pair of rolls mounted therein with a parallel axes, anendless band connecting' saidrolls, said rolls and band constituting acarrier, said carrier being normally positioned beneath and tending toform a support for the blanks, the upper run of said band and the topfaces of the rolls forming a blank-contacting zone elongated in lengthand increased in width at its ends, and pawl and ratchet mechanismoperative on said carrier for preventing movement thereof independent ofand during the advancing movement of the carriage and permitting freeadditional movement of the carrier during movements of the carriage inthe opposite direction.

5. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanksandin combi-V nation, blank segregating and advancing means operative todeliver the bottom blank from the pile, and feed mechanism inthe path oftravel of the advancing blank, said means including a pair'of rollshaving parallel axes and connected by an endless band, said rolls andband constituting a carrier having an elongated blank-contacting zoneincreased in width at its ends, and means for preventing rotation of therolls during advance movement of the carriage and in the absence ofblank-drawing action at a speed greater than the travel speed of thecarriage, and permitting additional movement of the rolls and band inthe presence of such excess blank-drawing speed and during movement ofthe carriage in the opposite direction of reciprocation.

6. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, blank segregating and advancing means operative todeliver a blank from a pile, said means including a reciprocatingcarrier having a blank-contacting face elon-. gated in the direction ofblank advance and held against movement independent of the reciprocatingmovement during the blank advancing movements and rendered additionallymovable during the movements of the carrier in the opposite direction ofreciprocation, said carrier including an endless band of theclosely-wound coil-spring type. v

7. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, blank segregating, and advancing means operative todeliver a blank from the pile, said means including a reciprocatingcarriage, a pair of rolls mounted thereon with parallel axes, an endlessband connecting said rolls, said rolls and blank constituting'a unithaving a blank-contacting zone elongated in length and increased inwidth at its ends, and mechanism forvretaining said unit againstmovement independent of and during advancing movement of the carriage,said mechanism being operative to permit free additional movement of theunit tion transversely of the pile and in a direction at an angle to thepath of the first shift.

9. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, means for supporting blanks in pile formation with theblanks in substantially vertical alinement, and a blank segregating andadvancing mechanism operative to shift an end blank of the pile in onedirection a distance less than the width of the blank, the

major portion of the blank remaining in the same plane throughout saidshift, and then to advance the blank from such shifted positiontransversely of the pile and in a directionat an angle to the path ofthe first shift.

10. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from 'a pile of blanksand in combination, means for supporting blanks in pile formation withthe blanks in substantial vertical alinement, and a blank segregatingand advancing instrumentality operative to suecessively shift a selectedblank laterally in the plane of the blank a distance less than the widthof the blank to a position out of alinement with the pile and foradvancing the shifted blank from such position, said I instrumentalityincluding a carnage movable in the plane of blank advance, and meansoperatively connected to the carriage for providing the lateral shiftingmovements to the blank.

11. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, means for supporting blanks in pile formation with theblanks in substantial vertical alinement, and a blank segregating andadvancing instrumentalityoperative to successively shift a selectedblank laterally in the plane of the blank a distance less than thewidthof the blank .to a position out of alinement with the pile and foradvancing the shifted blank from. such position, said instrumentalityincluding a reciprocating carriage having its movements in the plane ofthe blank advance, said carriage having means for frictionally engaginga blank during the carriage advance movement, and means operative toshift a selected blank laterally during the return movement of thecarriage.

12. In mechanism for feeding individual the width of the blank to aposition out of alinement with the pile and for advancing the shiftedblank from such position, said instrumentality including a reciprocatingelement having its movements in the plane of the blank advance andadapted to frictionally engage a blank during the carriageadvancingmovement, and means operative to shift a selected blank laterally onsaid element prior to the advance of such blank by the element.

13. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination,'means for supporting blanks in pile formation with theblanks in substantial vertical alinement, and a blank segregating andadvancing instrumentality operative to successively shift a selectedblank in one direction in the planeof the blank a distance less than thewidth of the blank to a position out of alinement with'the pile and foradvancing the shifted blank in a different direction from such position,said instrumentality including means operative on the lowermost blank ofthe pile for shifting the blank laterally of the pile, and meansoperative on the shifted blank for advancing it after it has beenshifted.

14. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, means for supporting blanks in pile formation with theblanks in substantial vertical alinement, and a blank segregating andadvancing instrumentality operative to successively shift a selectedblank laterally in the plane of the blank a distance less than the widthof the blank to a position out of alinement with the pile and foradvancing the shifted blank from such position, said instrumentalityincluding means operative on the lowermost blank of the pile forshifting the blank laterally of the pile, and means below the shiftedblank for advancing the latter after it has been shifted.

15. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, means for supporting blanks in pile formation with theblanks in substantial vertical alinement, and a blank segregating andadvancing instrumentality operative to successively shift a selectedblank laterally in the plane of the blank a distance less than the widthof the blank to a position out of alinement with the pile and foradvancing the shifted blank from such position, said instrumentalityincluding means operative on the lowermost blank of the pile forshifting the blank laterally of the pile, and

means positioned beneath the shifted blank and formed to frictionallyengage the latter for advancing the shifted blank.

16. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, means for supporting blanks in pile formation with theblanks in substantial vertical alinement, and a blank segregating andadvancing instrumentality operative to successively shift a selectedblank in one direction in the plane of the blank a distance less thanthe width of the blank to a position out of alinement with the pile andfor advancing the shifted blank in a different direction from suchposition, said instrumentality including blank advancing means operativeon a shifted blank, and mechanism controlled by movements of saidadvancing means for shifting a selected blank to its blank advancingposition.

17. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, means for supporting blanks in pile formation with theblanks in substantial vertical al-inement, and a blank segregating andadvancing instrument'ality operative to successively shift a selectedblank laterally in the plane of the blank a distance less than the widthof the blank to a position out of alinement with the pile and foradvancing the shifted blank from such position, said instrumentalityincluding blank advancing means operative on a shifted blank, andmechanism including a member positioned advancing means for shifting aselected blank to its blank advancing position said mechanisam includinga member positioned above said supporting means, and operativeconnections between said member and the blank advancing means forreciprocating said member in directions angular to the direction ofadvance movement of the blank.

18. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, means for supporting blanks in pile formation with theblanks in substantial vertical alinement, and a blank segregating andadvancing instrumentaility operative to successively shift a selectedblank laterally in the plane of the blanka distance less than thewidthofthe blank to a position out of alinement with the pile and foradvancing the shifted blank from such position, said tioned to receivethe blank wh1le the latter are moving at such increased speed.

instrumentality including blank advancing means operative on a shiftedblank, and mechanism controlled by movements of said advancing means forshifting a selected blank to its blank advancing position, saidmechanism including a member positioned above said supporting means, andoperative connections between said member and the blank advancing meansfor reciprocating said member in directions angular to the direction ofadvance movement of the blank, said connections providing advancingmovement of said member concurrent. with the movements of the blankadvancing means in returning to its initial position.

19. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, blank advancing means, having a blank-advancing faceelongated in the direction of blank advance, feed rolls in the path ofan advancing blank, and mechanism for reciprocating the blank advancingmeans, said advancing means being ineffective to distort a blank duringthe means reciprocating movements, said mechanism being operative toadvance the blank from its pile position into the zone of feed rollactivity with increasing speed.

20. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, blank advancing means, having a blank-advancing faceelongated in the direction of blank advance, feed rolls in the path ofan advancing blank, and mechanism for reciprocating the blank advancingmeans, said advancing means being inefl'ective to distort a blank duringthe means reciprocating movements, said advancing means including acarriage, said mechanism including a device of the crank and pitman typeoperatively connected to said carriage for reciprocating the latter.

21. In mechanism for feeding individual blanks from a pile of blanks andin combination, blank advancing means, having a blank-advancin faceelongated in the direction of blank a vance, feed rolls in the path ofan advancing blank, and mechanism for reciprocating the blank advancingmeans, said advancing means being ineffective to distort a blank duringthe means reciprocat ing movements, said advancing means including acarriage said mechanism including a device of the crank and pitman typeoperatively connected to said carriage for reciprocatlng the latter,said rolls having an angular speed not less than the maximum travelspeed of the carriage and being posi- In testimony whereof I havehereunto set my hand.

HILARION on ESOOBALES.

